1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices for restraining a sleeping infant to keep the infant on its side and to prevent the infant from falling off its sleep platform.
2. General Background
In the Tuesday, Aug. 10, 1993, issue of the New York Times, page B6, an article on studies concerning Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, reports mounting evidence indicating that babies who sleep face down are at a greater risk than those who sleep on their backs and sides. One study reported in the article, conducted by the Menzies Center for Population Health Research at the University of Tasmania, supports an earlier study published by the American Pediatric Association in May of 1992 in finding that infants who slept on their sides were at less of a risk of dying from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome than infants who slept on their stomachs. The article alludes to the concerns of some pediatricians, however, about infants sleeping on their backs and risking inhalation of stomach fluids. Earlier studies and insights into these phenomena have resulted in a number of devices for controlling sleeping posture, some of which are particularly adapted to overcome risks of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
3. Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,189,748 issued to Garrison et al. on Mar. 2, 1993, discloses a device to keep an infant on its side while sleeping and thus avoid Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. The infant side support has a back support and abdominal support attached to a mat on which the infant is laid on its side between the two supports. The infant is kept in a stationary position as a result of the structure, to avoid turning on its back or its stomach. The device has one apparent shortcoming, in that it does not keep an infant who is smaller than the distance between the back support and the abdominal support from twisting onto its back or into a face down position.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,193,238, issued to Clute on Mar. 16, 1993, discloses a support pillow with two detachable main sections, each having an elongated right triangle wedge shaped from a resilient foam member covered with fabric. The two detachable main sections may be spaced apart from one another, with a VELCRO.TM. brand fastening means attached to each section so that they are in a set spaced relationship. The infant is placed between the two wedges. A strap may be attached across the top of the wedge shaped pillows to stationarily support the pillows. This device also has an apparent shortcoming in that it is particularly confining to the infant, pinning its arms between the two wedges while the infant is sleeping.
Other devices have been disclosed which might be used for the purpose of supporting an infant on its side, or at least avoiding its sleeping in a prone position, though not particularly designed for that purpose. U.S. Pat. No. 3,034,802 issued to Lund on May 15, 1962, discloses an infant holder for restraining the movement of a small child, although it was not designed for keeping the child on its side or back during sleeping. The Lund device was designed for restraining a child during certain operative procedures and medical administrations to avoid injuring the child. It shortcoming it that it is not a comfortable device for the child to sleep in and that it restrains the child to lie on his or her back.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,214,326 issued to Spann on Jul. 29, 1980, discloses an apparatus for positioning and protecting a patient in a bed. The apparatus has protective cushioning for a side frame of the bed. The protective cushioning is substantially cylindrical, except for a flat surface. The device could be downsized for an infant. It is not, however, adapted to keep the infant from rolling in both directions, as a back device would restrain the infant from rolling on its back but the front device is only to protect the infant from injuring itself on the crib restraining rail.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,924,282 issued to Bond on Dec. 9, 1975, discloses a therapeutic prop-like support for maintaining a sleeping or otherwise reclining person on his or her side. Again, the device is not particularly designed for an infant. Its structure would restrain an infant in the manner of the device disclosed by Clute, if the Bond device were downsized.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,574,412 issued to Smith on Mar. 11, 1986, discloses an L-shaped anchored pillow. The Smith device uses a mat having a VELCRO.TM. brand strip to which the pillow support may be easily attached to keep it stationary with respect to the mat. This device, too, might be downsized for an infant but would not restrain the infant from rolling on its face if the pillow were situated at the back of the infant.
Besides the particular shortcomings discussed in connection with each of the above presented prior art, all of the above prior art suffers from not providing a combination of a frontal support to prevent the child from rolling onto its stomach, adjustability for different sized infants, portability and washability and a means for keeping the infant or a small child from rolling off its sleep platform, while not unnecessarily confining the infant or child during its sleep. Therefore, there is a need for a suitable structured infant sleep support to reduce the occurrence of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome with other advantages conceived of by the inventors of the infant sleep support.